No part of bodybuilding attracts more debate and controversy than the workout routine. This article attempts to explain the basics using a very traditional example. There are plenty of different routines out there, and you should certainly try them (you’ll probably find one you like better than this one). But start with the traditional, middle-of-the-road workout. You’ll learn to do the exercises safely, laying a good foundation should you want to try more radical theories in the future.

Workouts make you grow, yes? So if I work out more, I should grow more, right? Wrong. Your muscles grow while you are resting. The hard work you put in at the gym is merely what triggers muscle growth and more is not necessarily better. We covered this in the overview, as you’ll recall (you wouldn’t just skip ahead to the good bits now, would you?!).

So the idea behind all workout routines is to hit the weights hard and then rest. Break the muscle down through training, then let it rebuild itself bigger and better than before.

Under this traditional routine, if we were to do a full-body workout and work each muscle enough, we’d be in there all day. So instead we divide it up, and set aside different days for different muscles. We call this arrangement our routine split.

The most basic routine split is the Push/Pull/Legs split, and we’ll use this as our example for the rest of this article. Here’s how it goes…

(You can see a diagram showing the names of muscles here, and a list of websites describing other exercises here.)

For each exercise:

• Pick a weight you can lift/push/pull 12-15 times. Each of these times is called a repetition, or rep for short.
• This group of reps is called a set.
• You’ll do 3 of these sets, taking a brief rest (60-90 seconds) between each one. This should give you just enough time to recover your energy to hit the weights again.

Eventually, you’ll move up to a weight that is so heavy you simply can’t lift more than 12-15 reps – this is going to failure. To start with, however, choose a lighter weight and familiarise yourself with the exercise motion. Don’t worry that you might not be pushing yourself hard enough. There’ll be plenty of time for that later. Initially, it’s much better just to build good habits – and as a beginner, you’re likely to be quite sore enough the next day anyway!

This is what we mean by “good habits”…

• Know which muscle you are supposed to be working (it sounds silly, but a lot of people just do the exercise without ever thinking about how it works the muscle).
• Make sure you feel the correct muscle working with each rep.
• Visualise the muscle expanding and contracting as you move the weight.
• Concentrate on lifting with perfect form (you can find a list of sites showing how to perform the exercises here).
• Breathe! Exhale as you lift the weight, inhale as you release it.

These habits need to be patterned into you so deeply that you do them without thinking. This helps you prevent injuries, particularly when you start using the heavier weights.

Your body will adapt to meet the new demands you’ve been putting it under - which means it has to grow bigger and stronger. To keep it adapting, however, you need to keep changing the demands. To a certain extent, this can be done by increasing the weights as you increase in strength. But this only works for so long.

After about eight weeks, you should rework your routine. Not only will this keep your body guessing (and constantly trying to adapt), it also keeps things fresh and mentally stimulating for you. This is where you can start trying other theories, finding out what works for you, and what doesn’t.

Try a different split. If you find the workouts on a 3 day split take too long or you would like to do more sets per bodypart, then perhaps a four or five day split is the way to go. (But don’t forget to include enough rest days to grow.)

Some people like to use 10-12 reps in their workout; others swear by 4-6 reps. Try a routine of each.

Use different exercises that work the muscles in a slightly different position.

Use supersets, dropsets, strip sets, pyramids, forced reps, partial reps, negatives, 21’s, 100’s, half-speed sets, heavy/light days… and so on!

Even if a particular technique doesn’t help you now, don’t rule it out completely. It could simply be that your body currently needs something else to stimulate growth. And what doesn’t work for you now may be the very thing that’s needed later on. By changing your routine frequently, you adopt a fence-sitting approach that covers all possibilities.

Don’t be afraid to try something different. Remember, “different” means “new stimulus” – and that’s what makes our bodies grow.